By: Dave Hansche If you haven’t read day one yet, you can find it here: http://www.wayfarerdaves.com/?p=615 When we left off, my co-blogging friend and I had just finished a rainy hike into Tsumago-juku, an old post town on the…
Uniquely Kyushu: Shimabara
Japan is a country that loves its castles. Despite decommissioning and dismantling almost all of them in the late 19th century, they have been on the comeback as more than a hundred ‘rebuilt’ castles have joined the surviving dozen originals.…
Hamamatsu Castle: A Missed Opportunity
In my last post, I wrote about the charming castle they rebuilt in Kakegawa. As it turns out, the next city down the line towards Nagoya, Hamamatsu, also has a rebuilt castle. Hamamatsu castle, however, is on the opposite…
Kakegawa – A Charming Castle Town
If you take the Shinkansen toward Nagoya, somewhere in Shizuoka you will pass through a small city called Kakegawa. For most people, the Japanese included, it is just a minor stop on the way to bigger and better things.…
Fire!
Ashigaru, under the command of a samurai, give a Tanegashima (matchlock) firing demonstration at Hikone-jo (Hikone Castle), a Japanese National Treasure. Last year we saw a similar, but larger, demonstration at Matsumoto-jo (Matsumoto Castle), another National Treasure. Both Hikone and…